Can/should I hire out my Omega, or sell it?

[ringway]

My need for my cherished VX Omega Estate (very little use these days) is diminishing.
I will have had the car 10 years in March.

Very well looked after regardless of cost and it has been a grand servant and fun too (3.0ltr V6 Elite).

I don't really want to sell the car because for what I could get for her (£32k new) I'd rather keep it.

I spend most of my time in the Sprinter and then the choice between my W210 and the Omega always sees me driving the 320CDI.

Keeping the car though, means the expense of tax and insurance etc..

So the question is can I have my cake and eat it?

If I hired out the car (long term) for say, £125.00 per month I would still own it but would be happy that it was in daily use.

I know I'd possibly have problems with the insurance side of things but are there any other pitfalls or even advantages to this notion?


All suggestions welcome.

Thanks,

Paul.

 

[JohnDeere8530]

I reckon hiring it out is a non starter.

£125/month .......does this include maintenance repairs and servicing???

Hire cars as you know get one hell of a battering and an old car like that is unlikely to put up with any abuse. It would be very unreliable for the hirer (you would I assume have to provide a replacement in such times) as well as it costing you a fortune in parts and down time recovering and repairing it. It simply would not be looked after


What is the car worth, I've no idea, but guessing at £1.5k now. It is doubtful if you could find anyone to hire, they would be far better off (in their eyes at the outset at least) buying such an example rather than hiring it

Would you take the risk with a stranger knowing they may run off with it etc etc


Insurance as you say would also be an issue.

I bet you would need to charge double that to get an income from it, then you are approaching new car terriotory as regards to long term hire/lease rates.

 

[Ajenks]

Hiring seems a no starter to me to, can't see that you would get a long term hire and short term you wouldn't want to let them have the car.

Why don't you just park it up if you want to keel it, I bet you will feel differently about in in a few years.

How many cars have we sold for peanuts only to wish we still have them a few years later.

 

[welland99]

How do you rate the Omega compared to the W210? When i was looking for my W210, I also considered an Omega, but decided on the W210.

Are yours both estates?

 

[bpsorrel]

If this was a car that CCC (Classic Car Club) would want, you could let them have it on contract in exchange for membership points to enable use of lots of nice classic cars! This is what I plan to do if I get a Camaro/Firebird. Then still be able to use it when you want too! If this appeals, I'll ask Mike at CCC if he'd be interested in an Omega (they do have "moderns" too).

 

[ringway]

How do you rate the Omega compared to the W210? When i was looking for my W210, I also considered an Omega, but decided on the W210.

Are yours both estates?

Yes both are estates.

You have made the right choice with your W210 but not by a country mile. The Omega is a very capable car with eqipment levels to put a lot of cars to shame.

The car is in fabulous condition for its age and can be compared to say, Dame Helen Mirren in that it is getting on a bit but is still beautiful, puts many younger models to shame, gives a good ride and can go like the clappers if it wants to. Most pleasureable.

 

[ringway]

If this was a car that CCC (Classic Car Club) would want, you could let them have it on contract in exchange for membership points to enable use of lots of nice classic cars! This is what I plan to do if I get a Camaro/Firebird. Then still be able to use it when you want too! If this appeals, I'll ask Mike at CCC if he'd be interested in an Omega (they do have "moderns" too).

Sounds interesting.

The thing that stops me selling the car is that I could walk past it one day and see it in a sad state.

If I knew it would go to an excellent home and I thought someone would derive pleasure from it, I would sell it.

 

[A170 Blue]

and can be compared to say, Dame Helen Mirren in that it is getting on a bit but is still beautiful, puts many younger models to shame, gives a good ride and can go like the clappers if it wants to. Most pleasureable

How true .................Do you know her personally

 

[ringway]

How true .................Do you know her personally

If only..

She's very beautiful.

 

[ringway]

I reckon hiring it out is a non starter.

£125/month .......does this include maintenance repairs and servicing???

Hire cars as you know get one hell of a battering and an old car like that is unlikely to put up with any abuse. It would be very unreliable for the hirer (you would I assume have to provide a replacement in such times) as well as it costing you a fortune in parts and down time recovering and repairing it. It simply would not be looked after


What is the car worth, I've no idea, but guessing at £1.5k now. It is doubtful if you could find anyone to hire, they would be far better off (in their eyes at the outset at least) buying such an example rather than hiring it

Would you take the risk with a stranger knowing they may run off with it etc etc


Insurance as you say would also be an issue.

I bet you would need to charge double that to get an income from it, then you are approaching new car terriotory as regards to long term hire/lease rates.

Apologies. I should have mentioned that the person who hired the car would have to be known to me as trustworthy and respectful of the car.

I would not let just anyone have the car and there is no thought of making an income out of it. I'd be happy just to see the car being used regularly - you see so many cars that are left to rot away and die due to inactivity.

I hoped Mrs Ringway would have the car and gave her driving lessons in it but she just doesn't want to drive.

I'd go as far to say I'd let someone use it for free if I thought they'd look after it.

 

[scumbag]

You appear attached to the car...so either get a divorce from it and let it go, no lookingn back. remember the good times and head off into the sun, or, turn it into a long term project to get it back to new conditions.

It may never be a Model T ford for classic status, but in anohter 15 years, it may be that some classic car clubs and owners would like to show it around a bit.

You see a number of 20+ year old cars which have been kept. SORN in and see what you can do. If it is SORNED, the insurance would be minimal. And the fact it is 10years old means the value left in it, is pretty much not noticable.

I am going for the classic car route as my suggestion as you do seem to not want to part with it.

 

[James Rothwell]

I quite like Omegas, they do drive very nicely. For the money they make nowadays you might as well keep it.

If you want it to get used why don't you contact a local hospice or something and see if they need a car to use a couple of days a week to take the elderly folk out for the day.

 

[rf065]

Apologies. I should have mentioned that the person who hired the car would have to be known to me as trustworthy and respectful of the car.

If you want to fall out with them, that could be the way to do it then. No good could ever come out of this scheme for either party I'm afraid.

Russ

 

[davidjpowell]

Does not matter how responsilbe. Eventually you will get a call to say that the car either needs work or has had a smash.

I did this with a Spare Pug 306 that we had, at the time I did not went to sell it altogether, but had no great affection for it.

Was used by a friends son, who paid £50 a month. In that time it needed work here and there, and got bashed. I paid for some of the work, but none of the bash! Eventually he just bought the car off me.

If you are still attached to the car, just keep it I would say.

 

[wemorgan]

My father sold his 2001 C-class estate a while ago for the same reason. He ended up selling it to a forum member, so that was nice. The car was worth ~£5k, so depreciation was significant and I think just leaving the car parked on the driveway was costing him up to £1k each year.

But last week I would have really liked to have bought it off him. The benefit of hindsight. So if you can afford to keep it I would, because eventually you'll find a good use for it.

 

[ringway]

My father sold his 2001 C-class estate a while ago for the same reason. He ended up selling it to a forum member, so that was nice. The car was worth ~£5k, so depreciation was significant and I think just leaving the car parked on the driveway was costing him up to £1k each year.

But last week I would have really liked to have bought it off him. The benefit of hindsight. So if you can afford to keep it I would, because eventually you'll find a good use for it.

Your probably correct Will.

As mentioned earlier, the problem (as well as tax, insurance etc) lies in keeping the car in use.

It woulld probably make a good courtesy car for a garage that could maintain it at minimum cost to them.

Making a decision is difficult but I'll probably end up keeping her.


Many thanks for the input everyone.

 

[bennesspipers]

Paul, years ago i used to work with a truck rental firm,& part of my job was to do a check every time a van or lorry came off hire. One thing i can quite strongly tell you is, 'HIRE VEHICLES GET TERRIBLY ABUSED'. One quite common trick was to have drivers on shifts so that the vehicle is driven 24/7 (you can combat that by setting a mileage limit,everything above that is chargeable). Another common trick with deisel cars is they use red deisel,& if they get stopped " its not my truck officer,must be the hire company". You'd need to be choosy who you hired it to.

 

[Smiley]

As has been said you may as well keep it; the annual running costs are not that great; insure it ltd mileage 3,000 miles should be peanuts, tax for 12 months (peanuts in the scheme of things) and just use it once or twice a month. The real question is have you got somewhere to put it; ideally under cover if it is not going to used a lot.

 

[ringway]

As has been said you may as well keep it; the annual running costs are not that great; insure it ltd mileage 3,000 miles should be peanuts, tax for 12 months (peanuts in the scheme of things) and just use it once or twice a month. The real question is have you got somewhere to put it; ideally under cover if it is not going to used a lot.

Nowhere to store under cover - the W210 & Sprinter occupy the best spots so I'm worried the Omega will just rot away in the street.

Many Thanks Guy's.

 

[gaz_l]

Rented lockup/industrial storage?

My summer toy (Fiat Barchetta) has been put into hibernation in a disused industrial unit until spring arrives. Given the parlous state of the economy, there must be a lot of them out there..

Cheers,

Gaz